Forgiven
by Sheba the Lone Wolf
Summary: He didn't have to worry about his past, because she had already forgiven him for who he had been. RikuxOC. Fluff. Songfic.


**Disclaimer: Sheba the Lone Wolf does not own Kingdom Hearts or the song. **

**Pairing: Riku/OC. Don't like, don't read. **

**A/N: I heard my mom singing this song today, and couldn't help thinking of Riku. It's supposed to be a Christian and God-related song, but I edited one line so it seemed more like a love song. **

**Forgiven**

_Well, the past is playing with my head and_

_Failure knocks me down again_

_I'm reminded of the wrong that I have said and done_

_And that devil just won't let me forget_

Riku. A teenager who had given himself to the darkness. A boy who had betrayed his best friend. Someone who had grown so weak with the forces of evil that his own body had no longer been his, possessed and controlled by another. His experiences with the darkness had taught him a lesson, and he had long since righted his wrongs, though his sinful past still lurked in the back of his mind. It would forever be a part of him. It was something he could never forget.

Even among the events of his friend suffering from his betrayal and his body being possessed due to the darkness in his heart, Riku had committed a sin he considered even greater than his others.

When he had first surrendered himself to the darkness, Riku had met Zahara. At a glance, she seemed nothing more than an average teenage girl, though unusually reserved and quiet. But, as he had soon learned, she was hiding a frightening secret: Zahara was a werewolf. Her confession had startled him at first, but he soon saw her true identity as a powerful force. In her wolf embodiment, Zahara was blindingly quick on her feet and held an unimaginable strength, wielding a sword called the Moonlit Song.

Almost immediately, Zahara had developed a strange and unyielding loyalty for Riku, which satisfied him all the more. She would obey his every command, and he had used her powerful wolf form to his advantage. He had used Zahara like a weapon, and he had often expressed some extent of cruelty to her, but she never ceased to follow in his shadow and listen to whatever demand he had. He hadn't seen the malicious neglect he had directed towards her with his ways, until she had taken an immensely painful blow from Sora's Keyblade to protect him, when Riku had fought his previous friend. It was only then that Riku had seen the extent of Zahara's affection, and understood the gleaming adoration in her eyes.

_In this life, I know what I've been_

_But here, in your arms, I know what I am_

_I'm forgiven_

_I'm forgiven_

_And I don't have to carry the weight of who I've been 'cause I'm forgiven_

"Zahara."

Zahara looked at Riku, and he saw the ever-present glitter of absolute adulation in her eyes, the same gleam he had noticed as he cradled her in both arms, blood spilling from her torso, after she had endured the strike of Sora's Keyblade to protect him. Despite the tension that clouded his thoughts, he couldn't resist smiling. She loved him. She really did.

"Riku, is something wrong?" Zahara asked. "You don't seem like yourself today."

"It's just…" He broke off in a dreary sigh. "Zahara, why do you love me?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Why wouldn't I love you, after all you've done for me? I would have died, Riku, if you hadn't found me."

"What are you talking about, Z?" Riku sighed in exasperation. "When we first met, all I ever did was use you for power. I _used _you, Zahara. _You_."

"I know you did, Riku," Zahara replied. She shifted on the bed the two were sitting on, positioned against a wall in Riku's disarranged bedroom, to wind her arms around him. Her embrace was warm and comfortable, easing the pain of his thoughts. She buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"I did a terrible thing to you, Zahara," Riku said. "If you know that, then _how _can you _still _love me?"

"Riku, I don't care if you used me," Zahara answered. "There are so many wonderful things that you've done for me, too. You just never think about them. You gave me something to love and care about. You gave me something to fight for, something to make my otherwise miserable life worth living. You were my _friend_, Riku, when no one else was. That's why I love you."

Riku was silent. Tears brimmed in his ice blue eyes; each of Zahara's words had been passionately honest. Her words had vanquished the weight of his thoughts. He had no need to worry about how he had mistreated her in the past, because he knew he was forgiven. Throwing his arms around her, he buried his face in her short, jet black hair and cried.

_My mistakes are running through my mind_

_And I'll relive my days in the middle of the night_

_And I struggle with my pain, _

_Wrestle with my pride_

_Sometimes I feel alone and I cry_

_And in this life when I don't fit in_

_And don't feel like I belong anywhere_

_When I don't measure up to much in this life, _

_Oh, I'm a treasure in your arms_

Only Zahara's dreadful past was colder than Riku's. Originating in the Deep Jungle, she had watched in horror as a savage leopard called Sabor had murdered her father, and a poacher had later shot her mother and drowned her siblings. She herself was all that remained of her family. After the death of her parents and kin, Zahara had fled to another world and joined a pack of wolves, who were hesitant to accept her merely because of her strange and exotic coloration. She had fallen in love with the alpha's son, who discovered her secret and began to taunt her relentlessly for her differences until she could tolerate him no more. Her patience had been in short supply, but blood spill had not.

Upon discovering his slaughtered son and Zahara's blood-bathed jaws, the alpha had forever banished the werewolf from his territory, and deemed her unworthy of being anything more than a dog. If Zahara had no been so horrified with herself, she would have killed him, too, as punishment for his insult. She left the world for Transverse Town, where she had first developed her suicidal nature. Only a pair of striped arm warmers hid her self-inflicted scars from the outside world. If Riku hadn't befriended her, Zahara hated to imagine what would have become of herself.

Zahara awakened in a cold sweat, the sheet she had fallen asleep beneath discarded on the floor. Too often she suffered from agonizing nightmares, depicting the death of her family and what sins she had committed. She had left her suicidal personality in the past, but her nightmares were a constant reminder of what she had done to herself.

Burying her face in her crossed arms, Zahara burst into tears. The visions of her past brought to her in horrifying dreams summoned the solitude she had once consistently felt. Zahara had seen the joy of friendship, and learned to prefer it over solitude. The dreams recalled her lonely, mournful feelings, and never had she felt so alone. She had always been an outcast. Even her littermates, her earliest memories, had preferred one another to her. For her entire life, Zahara had been an outcast, merely because she was different, in either personality or appearance. Riku had been her first true friend.

Abruptly, a lamp flickered on in the living room of Riku's small, seaside home. The silver-haired teen settled down on the sofa beside Zahara, her arms folded on one of its arms as she sobbed. Resting a gentle hand on her back, he proceeded to stroke her until she calmed, her tears beginning to pass.

"Nightmares?" Riku prompted. She scarcely nodded in response.

"Riku," Zahara whispered, once her tears had ceased to flow. "Why do you love me?"

Without giving him a chance to answer, Zahara continued, "I mean, look at you, Riku. You're…gorgeous. I don't know a girl on Destiny Islands who wouldn't want to be with you. And look at me. I'm hideous. I'm an outcast, and you're attractive and popular. You could have so much more. You _deserve _so much more."

"Zahara, what _are_ you ranting about?" Riku demanded. "I've seen hideous, Z, and you're far from it."

Scooping Zahara into his arms, he carried her into the house's tiny bathroom and set her down in front of the full body mirror mounted on one of its walls. She glanced at her reflection, snorted in distaste, and turned away. Grabbing her shoulders, he spun her around again, holding her with one hand while he pointed at her reflection with his other.

"Now, what do you find so hideous about yourself?" he demanded. "What's wrong with how you look?"

Zahara was a tall, slender young woman with long, sleek legs and arms and alabaster skin. Her jet black hair was styled into a stack, her long bangs tipped with hot pink and hiding one of her matching eyes from view. Beneath each of her strangely exotic eyes was a row of tiny, circular tattoos, each growing smaller than the one before it as they drew nearer the inner corner of her eye. Another tattoo, depicting the head of her wolf embodiment, was drawn on the back of her neck. Her left ear was pierced with three silver studs, while two diamond rhinestones and a silver hoop adorned her right.

Fingering her fuchsia-tipped bangs, Zahara answered, "I have pink hair-"

"It's cute," Riku interrupted. Zahara snorted.

"Don't lie to me, Riku," she snarled. He slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a brisk squeeze.

"I'm not," he replied. "I like your hair. It's different."

"I have weird eyes," she continued. "And I'm as pale as a sheet of paper. I have piercings and tattoos, even on my face. I-"

"Zahara, you're beautiful," Riku intruded. He smiled. "I like how you look. You're unique. You're _yourself_, and I'd rather you be who you are than someone else."

"But, Riku, you deserve better-," she began.

"I couldn't ask for anything more," he interrupted. Tearing away from his warm embrace, Zahara tore her arm warmers from her forearms and waved one of her scarred limbs in his face.

"Do you see _this_, Riku?" she demanded. "You deserve better than this!"

"No, Zahara." He shook his head. "Look, Z, I love you for who you are. No matter what you think, I think you're beautiful."

Playfully nudging her shoulder with one hand, he added, "And keep it down. You're going to wake half the island up."

Zahara replaced her arm warmers before nestling into his chest. He smiled. The argument had ceased.

"There's my girl," he whispered. "No matter what anyone else says, Z, you're beautiful."

"I don't add up to much." She sighed. "I still think you deserve-"

"You're gorgeous. Now shut up." She couldn't resist a light grin. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her fingertips and whispered, "Why does it even matter what anyone else thinks? You're mine, Zahara. And I think you're beautiful. You're not an outcast to me."

She indicated her forearm. "What about-"

"I don't care, Z," he said. "I've sinned twice as much as you. I love you anyway."

Wrapping an arm around her waist, he escorted her out of the bathroom, sleep beginning to weigh down his eyelids. As she began to part from his arms to return to the living room sofa, she paused to rub her head against his. It was a wolfish gesture, but clearly affectionate. The two wished one another good night before Zahara left for the living room.

'_Cause I'm forgiven _

_Oh, I'm forgiven _

_And I don't have to carry the weight of who I've been 'cause I'm forgiven_

Riku settled down on his bed, the sheets abandoned in a disarranged heap at its foot, and closed his eyes to rest. Abruptly, the bed was shaken as someone laid down heavily beside him. He rolled over and came face-to-face with a smiling Zahara.

"Oh." His eyes widened. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she replied. "I just wanted to kiss you goodnight."

His eyes widened further and she swiftly added, "If that's alright, that is."

He smiled. "I'd like that, Zahara. I'm just surprised that you'd want to kiss someone as sinful as me."

"And I'm astonished that you'd like a kiss from such a hideous girl," she countered. He chuckled.

At a painstaking speed, Riku carefully enveloped Zahara in both arms, dipping his head until their foreheads met.

"You're moving too slow," she complained, throwing her arms around his neck. Without another moment's notice, she pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened; he wasn't expecting her to make her move so abruptly. Then, as her soft, smooth lips massaged his, he smiled against her mouth and returned her kiss.

He parted from her lips to breath, his face flushed.

"You're a good kisser." She giggled lightly. Smiling, she asked, "Now, shouldn't we get some sleep?"

Returning her playful grin, he nodded. She nestled into his chest, planting a soft kiss on his throat. He rested his chin on top of her head, inhaling her sweet aroma with each breath. Her body was soft and warm against his, her head rested on his bare torso. It felt right, perfect.

_Forgiven. _

**A/N: Awww. I love RikuxZahara. It's sweet. ^^ And I would truly, honestly, immensely love it if someone drew Riku and Zahara being all snuggly for me. I would love you forever. *puppy eyes* **

**And I would also love it if you reviewed. **

**Also, Zahara has issues with her appearance. In her wolf form, she's black and hot pink, which is abnormal (obviously). I imagine her parents and siblings were normal, so none of her brothers and sisters ever wanted to play with her when they were little. The alpha's pig-headed son rejected her because of how she looked, etc. She considers herself an outcast merely because she looks different. **

**::Sheba:: **


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